1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automobile control device and a method thereof, and in particular, to an automobile detection and control gateway interface that controls all the body devices through the body control module by the use of the diagnostic technique and a method thereof.
2. Related Art
In the prior art, the driver always add external devices such as a revolution per minutes (RPM) gauge, a turbo boost pressure gauge, an engine temperature gauge, an alarm system, a Global Position System (GPS), a video device/audio device, or a Vehicle Data Recorder in the personal vehicle so as to assure the safety in traveling, improve the traveling performance of the vehicle, or prevent the theft of the vehicle.
However, all the performance gauges are electrically coupled to the engine bay and additional wire assembly and sensors are provided. Most of the sensors are analog or high-voltage sensors and need additional protection circuits for degaussing and regulating voltages, and so on. If any of the circuits is installed incorrectly, the engine may be destroyed, or even worse, the car may be burnt.
Additionally, when installing the alarm system, the door switch signal, the trunk lid signal, the central lock signal, and the ignition switch signal (IG-SW) etc. need to be first obtained and set or recorded in the alarm system, and the relevant circuitries need to be added in combination with the relevant circuits such as the door lock and door unlock circuit and the hazard light on circuit.
Therefore, no matter whatever the installations may be, professional and well-trained technicians are needed for carrying out the installation. The overall testing and installation process is quite complex, which increase the difficulty in installation, and is time-consuming and labor costing, resulting in the high cost and insecurity.
Further, the current automobiles are mostly equipped with a built-in controller area network (CAN) formed by a body control module (BCM) and body devices under the control of the BCM.
Referring to FIG. 1, with respect to the theft-proof measures for the vehicles, when the driver aligns the transponder key 100 with the door handle, the door control module front-left (DCM-FL) 103 reads the identification data contained in the transponder key 100 and outputs an unlock request message to the BCM 101. After determining the identification data and the door unlock request message are correct, the BCM 101 disarms the alarm system settings and sends out an unlock signal and a disarm message to a CAN bus 108.
Each of the door control modules, including the door control module front-left (DCM-FL) 103, the door control module rear-left (DCM-RL) 104, the door control module front-right (DCM-FR) 102, and the door control module rear-right (DCM-RR) 105, receives the unlock signal and unlock the car instantly. The front signal access module (F-SAM) 106 and the rear signal access module (R-SAM) 107 simultaneously receive the disarm message and then the direction indicators flash twice, which allows the driver to confirm that the alarm setting has been disarmed.
On the contrary, when the driver uses the remote lock 109 to transmit an arm command, after determining that the command and the identification data included in the arm command are correct, the BCM 101 enables the alarm system setting of the BCM 101 and outputs lock and arm signals. All the door control modules lock the door upon receiving the lock signal. The front signal access module (F-SAM) 106 and the rear signal access module (R-SAM) 107 obtain the arm setting and make the direction indicators to flash once, which allows the driver to confirm that the alarm system has been set.
However, the working principles and installation positions of the relevant body devices such as the alarm system and the GPS are written in the maintenance manuals in case of the loss of the transponder key 100 of the vehicle or for improving the convenience for genuine factory repair, which however, easily causes the crack, so the driver usually installs an additional alarm system or GPS in the vehicle in most cases. However, the genuine factory body devices are usually expensive. Therefore, manufacturers design a monitor gateway interface in connected with the CAN formed by the BCM and the built-in body devices, and the external devices that need to be installed are connected thereon in order to overcome the difficulty in installation.
Referring to FIG. 2, the connection may be achieved by means of the diagnostic socket 114 of an On Board Diagnostics (OBD) conforming to the International Standard 15031-3 (ISO 15031-3) Specification, i.e. Society of Automotive Engineers (U.S.A) Standard J1962 (SAE J1962) specification. The 6th pin (pin 6; CANHI) and 14th in (pin 14; CANLOW) of the diagnostic socket 114 are pre-connected to the CAN bus 108. The monitor gateway interface 110 can get through the CAN as long as being connected with the diagnostic socket, and captures the status feedback data transferred by the body devices and the control signals sent by the BCM 101.
The monitor gateway interface 110 is additionally connected with at least one of the above external devices, such as the performance gauge 112, the Vehicle Data Recorder 113, or the alarm system 111.
With respect to the alarm system 111, the door switch signal, the trunk lid signal, the central lock signal, the ignition switch signal, or the relevant control signals need to be obtained in the set-up process. The monitor gateway interface 110 can easily obtain such signals or commands via the CAN bus 108 and establishes the relevant status determination table and control signal table which can be used for setting the alarm system 111 or other types of external devices.
However, the control signals sent by the external devices or the monitor gateway interface 110 need to have a data format identical to that of the BCM 101. Therefore, the data format of the control signals is converted through the control signal table, so as to simulate the BCM 101 to control the body devices.
However, the prior art inevitably has the following deficiencies.
1. In the normal status, the BCM and the control module of each body device have a built-in command comparison table recording the commands that can be executed by the control module of the body devices and the control data corresponding to each command. Therefore, the monitor gateway interface can only send control commands in broadcast mode to control the body devices like the BCM, and cannot control a specific body device individually.
2. When all the body devices are under the control of the BCM, the BCM continuously outputs the status of all the body devices to the CAN to ensure that the body devices match with the data recorded in the BCM. The monitor gateway interface cannot gain the control of the body devices, i.e., cannot control any body devices.
3. The monitor gateway interface can merely control the body devices built in the CAN. As shown in FIG. 3, the door switch 201, the central lock, the left light 203, and the right light 204 are all directly connected with the BCM 101 rather than built in the CAN formed by the BCM 101 and the automobile components, such as the ignition switch 206, the braking system 205 like the anti-lock braking system (ABS), the performance gauge 207, the engine 208, and the video device/audio device 209. Moreover, the door switch 201, the central lock, the left light 203, and the right light 204 are all controlled by the BCM 101 through electrical or analog signals. For example, the central lock sends analog signals by the use of the BCM 101 through the analog circuit simultaneously to all the door motors 202, including the front left motor, the front right motor, the rear left motor, and the rear right motor, to control all the door locks. Therefore, those body devices cannot be controlled by the monitor gateway interface 110.